3-039-174 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Civil War in France: inside the Porte Maillot, 1871. '...the scene inside the ramparts at the Porte Maillot, where the shells from [Fort] Valérien fall amongst the Communists, and sometimes throw them into confusion...The object of the fire is, of course, to render it impossible for the insurgents to mass large forces at the Porte Maillot, so as to make a sortie in force against the fortifications of the bridge of Neuilly..."I think I have seen a hundred fall at the gate, and it is reported that breaches have been made in the rampart to such an extent that the insurgents have been obliged to withdraw their batteries for some distance".' From "Illustrated London News", 1871.